Umbrella



Dec. 8, 1936. t; RAAB ET AL 2,063,624

UMBRELLA Filed Dec. 30, 1955 a Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Louis REIEHL BYHenry Karcher L. RAAB ET AL Dec. 8, 1936.

UMBRELLA 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 50, 1955' Patented Dec. 8, 1936UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UMBRELLA Louis Raab and HenryoKarcher,Milwaukee, Wis. Application December 30, 1935, Serial No.56 ,735 2Claims. (01. 135-46) This invention appertainsto umbrellas, parathearrows, illustrating the means of pivotally sols, etc., and moreparticularly to umbrellas of connecting the innerends of the ribs withthe; the folding or collapsing type. rod-carried'retaining ring. i

One of the primary'objects of our invention is Figure '7 is a detailsectional view taken on the 5 to provide an umbrella which can bereadily and line l| of Figure 5 looking in the direction of easilycollapsed into an exceedingly small comthe arrows, illustrating themeans of pivotally pass, whereby the same can be convenientlycarconnecting the brace links with the sliding sleeve. ried or shippedand placed in a brief case, travel- Figure 8 is a detail transversesection taken ing bag, or the like. substantially on theline 88 ofFigure 5 looking Another salient object of our invention is to in thedirection of the arrows, illustrating th'e 10 provide an umbrella whichcan be lowered or means for holding therunner for the ribs in its raisedsubstantially in the usual manner and elevated position.

which normally can be carried in the ordinary Figure 9' is an enlarged,fragmentary, detail way, but which can be further collapsed when sideelevation of the central rod or staff, the view t, necessary ordesirable into its small compass. being taken substantially on the line99 of Fig- .16

A further objectof our invention is to provide ure 8 looking in thedirection of the arrows, illusmeans for positively holding thetelescoping trating the means of forming the catchfor hold-- parts ofthe central rod'or staff againstcollapsing ing the sliding run in itsraised p s tion. movement when the umbrella is being carried in Figure10 is an enlarged, fragmentary longiits normal loweredpositi'on ornormal raised potudinal section through the central rod or shaft,sition, with means actuated from the handle of illustrating thehandle-operated latch for holdthe rod or staff for quickly permittingthe coling the Parts Of the telescoping a dl in its ex lapsing ofthero'd or stair to allow further folding tended position. of theumbrella. Figure 11 is an enlarged, detail edgeelevation A still furtherobject of our invention is to of the' operating member and latch forholding generally" improve the construction of the 001- the runner inits elevated position. la'p'sible umbrella, whereby to provide a durableFigure 12 is an enlarged, detail side elevation and e'fiici'ent device,one that will be simple and of the inner telescoping section of thecentral rod easy to manipulate, and one which can be-manuor shaft.

, factured and placed upon the market at a rea- Figure 13 is a top planview of the'forwa'rd' end sonable co'st. of the inner telescopingsection of the central rod With these and other objects in view, the in-01 Staff. v'ention consists in the novel" construction, ar- Figure 14 isa detail transverse section taken rangement, and formation of parts, aswill be ou h t e handle on e e |4|4 of Figure hereinafter morespecifically described, claimed, 10 ok g in t d rect on of the arrows,illus- 35 and. illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in trating t eCatch holding e telescoping which drawings; sections of the rod or staffagainst movement;

Figure 1 is a fragmentary central section Figure 15 is a detailtransverse section through through an umbrella constructed in accordancethe rod or staff taken on the line l5--l5j of Figwith our invention,showing the same in its raised ure 10, looking in the direction of thearrows. 410 position, with the central rod or staff in eleva- Figure 16is an enlarged, detail sectional view than throughout its major length.through the handle for the central rod or staff Figure 21s a Viewsimilar to Figure 1, with the taken substantially on the line Iii-I6 ofFigure umbrella in its closed position and ready to be 10, looking inthe direction of the arrows. carried in the normal manner. Referring tothe drawings in detail, herein 45 Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure2, with the similar reference characters designatecorreumbrellacollapsed,-the rod or central staff being sponding partsthroughout the several views, the

still shown in its extended position. numeral 20 generally indicates ourimproved col- Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, with the lapsibleumbrella, which comprises a central rod I 5 umbrella in its completelycollapsed position. or staff 2|. This central rod or staff includesFigure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, central inner and outertelescoping sections 22 and 23. sectional view through the umbrellaillustrating These telescoping sections can: be" of tubiilar variousdetails of construction. construction, if so preferred, and in order toelim- Figure 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the inate therotating of the sections relative to'one line 6-6 of Figure" 5 lookingin the directionof another, for a purpose which will be later-set 5'5forth, the inner section 22 can be provided with a retaining ring orhead 24 having a groove 25 therein. The outer section 23 can be providedwith a struck-in rib 26 throughout its entire length, which is receivedwithin the groove 25. The inner end of the outer telescoping section 23can be provided with a struck-in annular rib 21, which forms a stop forthe ring 24, so as to limit the outward sliding movement of the rod orstaff sections. If preferred, the outer section 23 can be provided witha re-inforcing sleeve 28 rigidly connected therewith intermediate itsends, and this sleeve can have struck therefrom a resilient latch 29,for a purpose which will be later set forth.

The extreme forward end of the outer rod or staff section 23 has rigidlysecured thereto a ring 3|, the periphery of which is slotted for thereception of the inner ends of the umbrella ribs 32. These ribs arepivotally retained in place on the ring 3| by means of a wire 33 whichpasses through openings in the ring and in openings in the ribs. Afterthe cover 34 is applied to the ribs, a tip or cap 35 is threaded on theouter end of the rod section 23 beyond the ring 3| for engaging over theinner portion of the cover.

Particular attention is now invited to the ribs 32, and the same includeinner and outer collapsible or telescoping sections 36 and 31. Thesections 37 are of a substantial U-shape in cross section and slidablyreceive and support the inner sections 36.

The umbrella cover 34 can be made in any preferred manner, and the outeredge of the cover is secured by threads to the outer ends of the ribsections 36. An intermediate portion of the cover is secured to slides38 mounted on the outer rib sections 31. These slides are connected tothe inner ends of the inner rib sections 36 and have pivotally connectedthereto the umbrella stays 39.

The inner ends of the umbrella stays are pivotally connected to therunner 48 and by raising and lowering the runner 40, the umbrella can beraised or lowered. When the runner is in its extreme outer or raisedposition, the same rides on the re-inforcing sleeve 28 and beyond theresilient catch 29, which holds the runner against lowering movement.Obviously, resilient catch can be depressed by the finger when it isdesired to move back or lower the runner and the umbrella.

Freely slidable on the central rod or staff 2| is a sleeve 4| whichpivotally carries brace links 42. The links 42 can be connected to thesleeve 4| in the same manner that the ribs 32 are connected with thering 3 I. Hence, the sleeve is slotted to receive the links and a wire43 passes about the sleeve and through openings in the links. Theopposite ends of the links are pivotally connected, as at 44, to thestays 39 intermediate their ends.

In use of our improved umbrella, the inner handle section 22 is pulledout from the outer handle section 23 and is held against collapsingmovement by a latch 45, which forms one of the important features of ourinvention. The latch 45 is provided at one end with a nose 46, which isadapted to snap into a keeper opening 41 formed in the inner end of thesliding section 23. Due

to the fact that the handle sections are held against rotation by therib 26 fitting in the groove 25, the correct positioning of the nose 41and the keeper opening 46 is insured when the handle sections are pulledapart.

The latch 45 also embodies a curved resilient body portion 48 having alug, f rmed on its inner end. This lug is received within an opening 50formed in the handle section 22. The arcuate body portion 48 normallybears against the inner face of the rod section 22, and hence normallyurges the nose 41 out of a slot 5| formed in said handle section 22. Acurved fingerpiece portion 52 is formed on the body of the latchadjacent to the nose 41 and normally projects through the slot 5|, andthis portion 52 forms means for manually depressing the latch adjacentat the point of mounting the latch in the rod section 22. Due to thecurve of the portion 52, the outer rod section 23 will readily ride overthe same and normally hold the nose in a depressed position.,

We have provided novel means for actuating the latch 45 from the outerend of the handle or hand grip 53, and this means includes an operatingrod or link 54 slidably mounted in the rod section 22. The operatinglink 54 is preferably constructed from thin metal straps 55 rigidlysecured together at their outer ends to a cylindrical plunger 56 bymeans of a pin or rivet 51. The inner ends of the metal straps 55 carrya cross-pin 58, which is sliclably mounted within an inclined slot 59formed in the body portion of the latch 45.

Hence, by moving the operating member 54 longitudinally of the rodsection 22, the pin can be forced from one end of the inclined slot 59to the other, resulting in the moving back and forth of the latch 45.

The handle or hand-grip 53 can be of any preferred ornamental character,but the same is preferably formed from a sleeve so as to provide aninterior hollow chamber 60. The outer end of this chamber 60 can receivea filler block 6|, and the outer end of the handle section is rigidlyanchored to the filler 6! and to the hand-grip in any preferred manner.The plunger 56 is slidably mounted in the handle section 22 and can beprovided with a manipulating fingerpiece or the like, and, as shown, acarrying ring 62 is inserted through an opening 63 in said plunger.

By pushing in on the operating rod 54, the pin 58 will travel up in theslot 59 and swing in the nose 41, allowing the collapsing of the handle.

As stated, the central rod or staff 2| can be secured to the handle 53in any preferred manner, but, as shown, the inner rod section 22 carriesa cross-pin 65 which is received in a diametrically extending groove 66formed in the filler 6|. A ferrule 67 is threaded onto the rod section22 and bears against the outer end of the handle 53 and functions topull the pin 65 in the slot 66.

When the umbrella is in its raised position, as shown in Figure 1, andit is desired to lower the same, the spring latch 29 is manuallydepressed and the runner 4|! is pulled toward the handle until the sameassumes the position shown in Figure 2. This will pull down on the stays39 and consequently swing the ribs 32 toward the central rod.

The umbrella can be carried in this position. if so desired, and inorder to hold the runner 46 against movement, a latch 68 is provided.This latch 68 is carried by the rod 22 adjacent to the handle 53 andincludes a nose 69, which is adapted to snap under the flange formed onthe outer end of the runner. This latch has formed therein a thumbpieceportion 1|], whereby-the detent can be depressed when it is desired toagain raise the umbrella.

By referring to Figure 10, it will be noted that the thumbpiece iscurved so that the runner can slide over the same when. the umbrella isfurther collapsed.

This latch 68 includes an arcuate body portion H, which bears againstthe inner surface of the rod section 22, and the extreme inner end ofthe body portion is provided with a lug 12, which is received in anopening 13 formed in the rod section 22. This effectively anchors thelatch body H in place, and it is to be noted that the latch body isreceived between the flat straps of the operating rod 54.

When it is desired to collapse the umbrella into its smallest form, thelatch 68 is depressed and the runner 40 is slid toward the tip end ofthe rod. The stays 39 being substantially in a vertical position andparallel with one another will push up on the slides 38 and bring aboutthe col.- lapsing or the telescoping of the rib sections 35 with the ribsections 31.

After the ribs have been collapsed to their fullest extent, the rod 2|is moved to its telescoped position, and this is accomplished by pushingin on the operating rod 36 to release the catch 45. The rod sections 22and 23 are now moved toward one another, and the runner 40 will rideinto the chamber formed in the handle 53, as shown in Figure 4 of thedrawings. By providing the chamber. 60 for the runner, the umbrella canbe collapsed into an exceptionally small compass, and the stays bearingagainst the wall of the chamber tend to hold the umbrella in itscollapsed position. However, a cover (not shown) is slipped on theumbrella to protect the same and hold the parts against accidentalmovement.

When it is desired to open the umbrella, the rod sections are againpulled apart, after which the runner 40 is pulled toward the handle 53,after which the umbrella can be raised in the ordinary manner.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that we have provided anexceptionally simple collapsible umbrella,' which will be easy andsimple to manipulate.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or thescope of this invention, but what we claim as new is:

1. In a collapsible umbrella, a central telescoping rod including innerand outer sections, a handle connected with the outer endof the innerrod section, means for preventing the telescoping of the rod sectionswhen the same are in their extended position, including a springpressedlatch having a latch nose and a rounded manipulating portion extendingthrough a slot in the inner rod section, the outer rod section having akeeper notch for receiving said latch nose, means for preventingrelative turning movement of the rod sections, and an operating barpivotally and slidably connected to the latch disposed within the innerrod section and extending through and outward of said handle.

2. In a collapsible umbrella, a central telescoping rod including innerand outer sections,

a handle secured to the outer end of the inner rod section, a runnerslidably mounted on said sections, a latch normally holding the sectionsof the rod against telescoping movement, an operating bar disposed inthe inner rod section operatively connected to the latch and extendingthrough the handle, said operating bar including spaced flat barsections, a movable latch slidably received between said bar sectionsand normally projecting through the outer rodsection for holding therunner against movement when the umbrella is in one of its positions.

LOUIS RAAB.

HENRY KARCHER.

